finding you
by flygirl101
Summary: the world has been taken over, by the souls...and now Maximum Ride has been caught. but we all know max. and when has she ever given up? now she must fight to save the ones she loves, from inside...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, peoples! Sorry that I haven't been around. But here I brought a peace offering! A new story! YAY. **

**fly on, **

**flygirl101**

Chapter 1, Birth

This was just another insertion, right? Ha, yeah right. That's what I thought in the beginning too. But no. This was different. Very different. When the healers had told me that I would be put into a...Abnormal human body, well I took it as a challenge. A fun experiment. I was SO wrong. This body had been put through the most in-humane tortures that the humans

Could come up with, and that was just the beginning. This human was a Hybrid. One of six. She had wings, like an earth bird.

She was part bird. I had been given a brief description of the way this body worked.

The body had a total of 6 limbs. Two arms, two legs and two wings. I could feel how she had moved them.

Once upon a time, when she had still owned this body. I could feel the sedative wearing off, and knew what would happen next. I knew that it would feel like the end to these eyes, it would be the memory of the end. This thought scared me. I would have to watch as this girl who I would live inside of for the rest of my life, die. That scared me more than the Claw beasts on the Mists planet...

Flash back

_**There's no air here, or at least I can't pull the oxygen from the air anymore. I'm exhausted.**_

_**The seekers are right behind me, I can feel there feet pounding against the cold concrete floor.**_

_**I've only been in this old office building for a minimum of 5 minutes, and yet they chase after me.**_

_**The cold in this building is unimaginable, and I have been in many cold places. I can't believe that this is the end. I hope that they wont come looking for me. That is my last hope. **_

_**There up ahead. A dot of light in the inky black ness. A window that leads to the dark ness of night. Maybe there was a way to escape this doom this death, after all I had faced many others and survived, this would just be another desperate escape. **_

_**I screeched to a halt at the window, ripping it open and jumping out. But I was only a few yards away, when the bullet hit my wing. I had forgotten that they had guns. And that bird-kid weren't bullet proof.**_

_**I fell through the air, not a single scream came from my mouth. Though the pain was burning, and unimaginable. I hated the way that they had just torn me away from every thing I had ever known. Now that was all lost to me forever. **_

Flash back

A high keening sound came to my attention, and I noticed that a dull ache had started in my throat.

I floundered around trying to figure out what was happening. '_Screaming, you're screaming_.' some thing said

A voice inside my head. My body was speaking to me! Suddenly I was pulled back into the memory. _'__**NO**__!_'

I thought, I didn't want to go back...

Flash back.

_**I landed in the street and weakly looked up at the seekers that were surrounding me, I shut my eyes tight. **_

_**Trying to wake up from this night mare, when I woke up I would be back home and I wouldn't have to go and find anyone. The world wouldn't be taken over by aliens and I would be safe. **_

_**I could feel them picking me up and that's when I felt the needle in my arm. Within seconds I was out.**_

Flash back

I lay there gasping as the memory faded away. I shuddered. That was horrifying. As my heart beat slowly Calmed. I could hear someone talking in the background. "I know, this is amazing. She must be very strong to

Only have screamed once." a deep voice, male un-doubly. A softer voice answers, "she has been chosen for a reason." this statement makes me shudder. And I wrestled with the overpowering emotions. In this species, but tears bud in my eyes anyway. And I hate that. It makes me feel weak.

Weak, I can't stand that word. It is something I promised that I would never be. I had no idea that this planet would have such an amazing range of color, sound, scent, even taste.

_'You'll get used to it_.' a dryly sarcastic voice said in the back of my head. I tensed, making the stiff

Paper on the healing bed crackle softly. '_**Leave**_.' I thought. _'And go-where exactly_?' the voice quipped

_**'Anywhere. This is my body now, so leave**_.' suddenly I could feel light pressure on the back of my hand.

"Storm rider? Are you aware?" the softer male voice asked, in a kind and gentle tone.

Slowly I opened my eyes. And winced at the sharp lances of light. I blinked letting my eyes become adjusted,

When I could fully open my eyes. The male healer stepped forward and gently took my pulse and had me do all of the necessary sense tests. The healer steeped back, seeming pleased with his work.

"Storm Rider. Can you access everything?" a small woman to the right of the healer asked, she was small and looked overly vain. She had long blonde hair and dark brown eyes. The contrast against her dark tan skin was shocking. It unnerved me. She wore a light floral dress that came to her knees. She must be the seeker, my seeker. Some thing in my body shuddered at the title. Just a leftover reaction. I had no reason to fear or dislike the seekers, for I was one of them. I was a soul. All things good and kind. But the humans could tell you something very different. "I haven't tried to access memory. But everything else is in order. She had a very fit body." I said. I could feel revulsion deep in my head. And began to fear that this body could become a nuisance. The seeker nodded. "Can you find the name?" she asked, her brows furrowed in concentration. I nodded and closed my eyes, tightly. I searched.

A wall fell, but she was too late. The only thing I saw was a face.

Dark shaggy hair hung over one deep chocolate eye, a tan face. Strong chin and a blank expression. That was all that was left. Was that face. He looked to be the same age as my host. _**Fang, **_so that was his name. This face this beautiful face's name was Fang. As soon as I realized that I liked this face, wanted to keep looking at it, it was gone. '_Mine!' _she hissed. '_**no, mine. Everything is mine now.' **_I rebuked her. She fought against me as I moved through another direction to find her name.

There I found it. "Maximum Ride." I said to the seeker opening my eyes. "She is 14 years old and was 'born'" I was cut off by the sardonic laughter in my head. '_Born? Really?'_ max gasped in my head. I pressed on locking my hands behind my back so that I wouldn't hit my self in the head. "In a lab in death valley California." I finished and hoped beyond all belief that this would all be over soon.

_**The night is still and the only sound is of the fire crackling at the center of this small cave. We just left my moms house two days ago, and now we were hiding out again. **_

_**On instinct my eyes swept over the figures that lay in the darkness. Iggy has his arms around Nudge, who is smiling in her sleep. They both are. In the morning they will pretend like this never happened. And that will make them both sad. Angel and Gazzy are curled together, while they sleep they look much younger then they really are. And that scares me. How could they be so young and fragile, they had both been strapped to gurneys and put through the most unimaginable, in-humane, and painful tortures in the world. And yet they were still only 6 and 8 years old. **_

_**I looked back to where Fang sat. His eyes open and alert. He had been watching me. This did not surprise me. He usually watched over me, but he did so that I wouldn't notice. As I look in his eyes I can tell that something is wrong. He is lost in his thoughts. That hardly ever happened with Fang. **_

_**I heaved a sigh and got up to go sit by him, his clouded eyes followed the movement closely. And he seemed to come back from his thoughts as I sat beside him. "Hey." I whispered. Fang not being one for many words, nodded. Without seeming to thinking about it he reaches out and takes my hand. I sigh as I watch him press my hand to face; I cup my palm so I'm cradling his cheek. It's confusing and, scary. I don't know how I feel about Fang. He's always been my best friend and I'm terrified of losing that. **_

_**We don't say anything for along time. Just staring into each others eyes, black to hazel. It makes me feel safe, looking into his eyes, he has the most beautiful eyes. The night is thick like a blanket, and I can just hear the babble of the stream a few yards form the cave. I pay no mind, it's like he is the only thing in the world. We still haven't moved. **_

_**Suddenly Angel stirs. "Max?" her soft innocent voice calls out to me. It took all my will to look away from Fang, and my hand fell from his face. It was like a sharp tearing. It hurt to not be touching him. But I dragged my self to Angel. **_

"_**What is it sweetie?" I asked as I settled to the ground and stroked her matted blonde curls. Her chin wobbled, "I'm afraid, Max. What if they get you?" she asked. Tears streaked down her face and fell to her lap. This disturbed me, my little Angel was so afraid. **_

"_**I'll always make it back to you. To everyone. I promise. I will always make it back to you." Soon her tears stopped. And her shaking slowed. She believed me, her blue eyes were clear. And she soon drifted back to sleep. **_

_**I took a glance back at Fang; he was still looking at me. I felt my heart beat un-comfterbly, it was like pain. Pain that I didn't want to stop. **_

_**I stared deep into his dark eyes, and he looked into mine. It was like he was reading my soul. And I didn't hide anything. He seemed pleased with what he saw. I crawled over to him. And put my hand back to his cheek. **_

"_**Always." I said, the word rung through the silence, and he hugged me to him. I fell asleep that way. With a deep peace that filled my heart and overflowed to my soul. I was happy.**_

**I woke from the dream, and found my hands searching the crumpled sheets, searching for him. But soon they gave up. He was not there. Tears stung my eyes. And I gritted my teeth. **

**I threw the covers back and moved to the small living room, where a small computer sat on the coffee table. I opened the lid and pressed the button, waiting for the laptop to boot up. But just looking at it made Max, heartsick from the latest dream that she had tortured me with, think of Fang****'****s laptop and that made her feel even more sad. Without thinking about it I went to my email as soon as the computer had powered up. And searched for the correct address. **

**I only had 2 contacts, the seeker and the healer. So it wasn****'****t**** hard to find the right one. **

**There were the four other experiments in hiding with her, not only the one called fang. Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. Were the names, I have no further information. I will be in contact if there is anything more I can do. **

**Storm rider.**

I pressed the send button, and I could feel the hate rolling off of Max in waves though she said nothing. It made me think of how this had gotten worse over the few months that I had been on earth.

She was still here despite my best efforts of getting her to go away. And she was so hard to ignore. She was very strong, so I admired her but still hated her with a fury that continued to surprise me. She did not speak to me often. And she had never spoken for me. That I simply would not allow.

Most of the time she spent locked away in her own little dream bubble. Remembering was her main pastime, annoying me was her other.

My calling was to be a writer. As I was a story teller on every planet this was not hard to transition to. I often found myself writing hopeless romances, and happy endings of families reuniting. These stories's always brought deep sadness to my heart. It was all her fault. I knew what was happening. I was falling in love with Fang, and now the rest too. This angered her. Not so so much about the others in the flock, but Fang. He was hers and only hers. Or so she wished… it made her ache to think about him. So she did it often. She wanted to feel _something_ any thing at all. That was all that she wanted.

I sighed and allowed a few tears to drip down my tired face and I walked back to the bedroom. Directly across from my bed, was a wide mirror, I could see my self, hunched over in the bed. My eyes were haunted and sad, my long red-brown hair fell to my waist and my wings hug out behind me, during the day I kept them in, tight against my spine. It was a habit now, this body was used to keeping them out of sight when they weren't in use and this made me feel safer for some unknown reason.

Max was drifting in the back of my head, she had no intention of going back to sleep and I had no way of controlling her as I was, the tears trailing down my face and soaking into the duvet. To her this was a shameful sight. There was no pity for me. No. I was just another invader. But she was different. She was one to never fade away. And now I wondered at the dream she had showed me.

Thinking of it made me think of Fang and Angel. That made my heart ache as well as my arms as if they longed to hold something. That only made it worse. She had promised that she would always return to them, but I sensed no thought of attack in her thoughts, yes she hated me but she wouldn't try to take over. Because she understood me.

In some odd way, she knew that I didn't do this of my choice. That I would not have taken her body, if I were in on the decision. I needed a host body to survive. Without her body I would die. And she knew that. It was a need not something that I could not control and had no choice. It was wrong and I knew that, I hated being the parasite. Ever since then…

"No, no thinking of that, not now." I said to myself.

I could feel Max's curiosity spike at my words. But I wouldn't tell her all my secrets until she told me hers.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter, 2 waking nightmare

The months always seemed like years now. Max had become increasingly annoying. She never said much, but when she did there was always something that made me want to claw my eyes out.

She continued to assault me by night with her own form of torture, the dreams became horrible. I would find my self searching franticly for the flock. Until it was no longer, just Max that needed and loved them. It was me as well. And this was horrifying.

"Storm rider, you need to talk to me." The healer said to me as he sat in the Blue chair across from me. I had been sitting here for an hour, and hadn't said a word.

Instead of answering him I looked out the window to see the small pond, and the coy fish in the water instead of the comforters deep blue eyes. I could hear the comforter sigh and shift in the chair. "Maybe we could talk about something else?" he said, hesitantly. I let out a breath of air and dropped my eyes to the cream yellow carpet beneath my sneakers.

"How is your calling going?" he asked curiously. I reached up and nervously tugged at my pony tail. "I enjoy writing very much, thank you." I told him finally raising my eyes to his face. He smiled and nodded encouragingly, his long blonde hair flopped over his forehead and I suppressed a smile that had happened to Iggy a lot. '_**No!**__' _I thought. This was why I was here. But I didn't want help. Comforters were for the weak, for others. Not for me.

I sighed and looked up at him. "What do you write about?" he asked. I looked down at my hands. They were long and thin, scarred from countless battles. My skin was a light creamy peach and covered in freckles. I looked down intensely at the freckle on my thumb as I answered.

"I write mostly about," I took a deep breath to steady myself, "finding lost loves, and families reuniting." I grimaced as I heard him write something in his notepad. He said nothing for a moment. It made me anxious. I wanted something to do. Busy hands, always calmed me down. They calmed Max too. She was used to cradling Angel, or messing up Gazzys hair. Fighting, and doing other things around the flock. Having nothing to do was un-nerving to both us.

After what could have been forever, the Comforter spoke again. "They still haunt you don't they? It's no longer just the memories that love them, love him. Its you too." I winced and continued to look down at my hands.

It was silent for a while more. When I looked up, the Comforter's face was kind and understanding. He was not angry. He looked like he really and truly wanted to help. '_Ugh, you're all very creepy. I don't get how you can be so kind to _everyone._ It's just so wrong.'_ Max hissed sarcastically. I hated it when she did that. '_**He is doing his job, Max. He is naturally kind. He is a soul that's how it works with us.**_' I answered her. She grumbled at me unintelligibly and I almost smiled in spite of myself. She could be so crazy sometimes.

I looked up at the Comforter he was still waiting for an answer. I looked up and let the appalling truth come from my lips. "The memories have only gotten stronger. I can't even tell mine from hers anymore. And I" I faltered, what was I going to tell him that I had fallen in love with Fang? That I wanted to brush back Angels tangled curls, Slap my hand over Nudges mouth to stop her from talking? That I wanted to have to plug my nose after one of Gazzys 'gifts' and that I wanted to yell at Iggy for blowing up something? How was I supposed to tell him that Max was still so strong in my head that I was scared that someday I wouldn't be here anymore?

He watched me as I considered this all in my head. I was terrified of telling him all of this but I needed to say something. I looked back into his eyes. "I have completely lost the sense of who I am. I can't stand not being with them. It's like I once actually lived with them, and took care of them. I hate this. But there is nothing I can do." The comforter watched me for a moment, before he stood and set his clipboard down on the table next to his chair. I watched him carefully, Max was tight, and on edge, she was suspicious. '_It's a hard habit to break._' She snapped and watched him with fire in her heart. It was hard for her, even now when she was so _smug_ that I had finally admitted her power. She had been through so much that even this made her want to run away. I tried not to feel pity. She was a nuisance not another soul. I couldn't grow sympathetic to my host. And I feared that this would end badly now that I had seen the light on Max.

The healer sat down on the futon but my knees. He heaved a deep sigh. And I looked at my hands again, they had suddenly grown fascinating. I heard Max chuckle. But I ignored her. She was the problem. '_Am not!'_ she said pretending to be outraged.

"Storm Rider, look at me please." The comforter said. His voice betrayed only a tiny bit of worry. I slowly looked up and at him. He was studying me closely. Observing me. This made Max want to be sick. She'd been _observed_ enough in her life. The pain was evident in my face, and I knew it. He watched me a moment longer before nodding. "Maybe you should come back tomorrow and we can talk then, you must be exhausted." His voice held concern for me. I ducked my head and nodded.

Without looking up at him I got up and headed to the door. I paused on the thresh hold. So quietly that it was barely a breath, just loud enough for him to hear, I whispered "Thank you."

I left knowing that I would not be back tomorrow to talk about my waking nightmare. It was painful enough as it was.

I walked home very slowly. The sun was just setting in the western sky, and now the orangey glow glanced off of my hair, making it shine brightly in the light of the setting sun. My hair fell in waves to the center of my back now; it was in a pony tail. I felt like running, all the way home. To feel the muscles pull over the bones, and hear the pounding of my feet against the hard ground.

At this point I didn't care anymore what others would think, so I changed my pace to a long stride then jogging, and then I was running. It felt good, to run for pleasure rather than fear. Max had always run out of fear, the fear of the hunted.

Halfway home, a light rain started to fall, and soon I was damp. My light baggy t-shirt was stuck to my skin and my light jeans clung to my legs. My sneakers absorbed the rain water and pounded against the wet pavement. Max relished in the feeling of the rain on my skin, as did I.

I took a few turns and ran right past my house. It was now night and that only made the sensation of running in the rain, better. It was so _good_ to both of us. And for a moment we forgot to hate each other. And ran as equals. I stopped short at the bluff overlooking the desert, we looked out over the blank desert. Saw the endless sky, the pale sand and rocks. The occasional dark green of a cactus. It made me think of my life. How empty, like the desert and the only beauty was that of my writing. It made me feel lost.

'_You shouldn't be so sad.' _Max said, her thought was tinted with annoyance and a tiny bit of unwilling compassion. I didn't answer her. And

She didn't say anymore. We both just looked out over the flat faceless desert. It made her think of the many times that she and the flock had flown in the sky's looking down. Forever looking for a home. It was sad. But still happier because she had been with the ones she loved most in the entire world.

I tried to feel nothing, and look at what was before me with a blank mind. It was nearly impossible. And made me want to be away. Far away.

I don't know how log I stood there, in the rain. But after countless minutes I turned and walked back to my house. The rain picked up and I raised my face to it. Willing it to wash away all my pain and suffering. The cool drops pelted my face and made me sigh in content. Max watched all of this with a soft understanding. It made her happy to see me facing what was right in front of my face. I was not the same person, who had come to this planet. I was permanently altered. And it felt damn good.

I continued walking and soon reached my front door. The pale wood door was already open, frowning. I stepped back, Max was uneasy. She wanted me to run away again. She wanted to jump into the air and unfold her wings. To soar, and get away. To where she truly belonged. But I shook my head, gritted my teeth and gently pushed the door open. _'Stupid!' _Max scolded. She was wound tight and I found my legs tensing as if getting ready to run. I of course knew that there was nothing to fear. It should have been easy to banish her from my legs. But she was to strong right now. I lost my focus and shook my head.

Making my legs move forward, I cautiously rounded the corner to the living room. What I saw made my knees go weak with relief. The seeker from my insertion sat on my couch. She was wearing a light purple top and floral skirt. Her long blonde hair was pulled into a bun in the back of her head, with her bangs falling to either side of her face. I looked at her through my wet bangs that covered my right eye. She looked a little un-nerved at my appearance. I was sopping wet, standing in the middle of my living room.

I did not move and she continued to stare at me. Finally Max unfroze in my head. '_Well. This is odd.'_ She said. I held back a snort. '_**God, how do you do that?**_' I asked her. '_Do what?_' she asked, confused. I sighed and shook my head in exasperation.

The seeker watched me in confusion. After a moment, I turned abruptly and walked form the room. I could hear her get up from the couch and hover for a moment. As though she didn't know what to do with herself. Max smiled smugly in my head. And I laughed silently, as I changed my clothes.

When I was finished I went back out to meet the seeker.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3, confronted

We stood awkwardly for a moment, before she extended her hand in greeting. I took her hand gingerly. The silence was broken by the seeker. "How have you been?" she asked, her voice was uncertain, as though she didn't really want to know.

"I have been-fine thank you." I answered, a fake smile plastered on my face. The lie was easy; it wasn't hard to extend the truth. This un-nerved me. But nonetheless I sat down across from the seeker, in my arm chair. She seemed to have nothing to say for a moment. And Max snickered in my head. '_What a loser._' She said still laughing. She didn't seem to be sending venomous thoughts toward _me_, just the seeker.

Said seeker, was shifting nervously in her seat. "Ohm, I-I wanted to know if you had anymore information, on the hybrids." She said, sounding slightly sheepish. "I sent you an email, did I not?" I asked tiredly. Her head tilted to the side, and squinted her eyes, thinking. "I haven't checked my email." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small PDA.

Panic, that I couldn't tell who it belonged to. Me? Or Max? I had no clue. This scared me even more than it had just moments before, swelled in me closing my throat. As she held up her PDA, and tapped the screen a few times. Her eyebrows lifted and she looked up at me as she slid the PDA into her purse.

You could have cut the tension in the room, with a knife. Or so that's what Max said. I had cringed at the mention of a knife. Most things from human times still scared me. They brought back memories to Max, of what she had done to stay alive. The memory of killing her own half brother, was the most sad and confusing, so many emotions had gummed up her brain and made her a nervous wreck, so when he had come back from the dead. Well, I couldn't

Say that she had felt relived. But defiantly happy that she had not been the death of him. It had made her feel better in a convoluted way.

The seeker cleared her throat, pulling my attention from the confusing memories. She looked at me, appraising. And it made me uncomfortable. Her chocolate brown eyes, stared at me shrewdly, as though she was trying to read an inscription behind my eyes. All she would find would be a faint glimmer of silver.

"Well, we knew that there were-others. But we never imagined that they would all be together. Its intriguing." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. Her words made me squirm. She would not understand that they were all together, because they loved one another. That wouldn't make sense to her. That they were surrounded by hate, and found comfort in only each other. Souls simply could not feel the emotion of hate, when they had no reason. No one to hate in the first place.

The seeker didn't seem to notice my discomfort, so I cleared my throat. "I'll keep you posted, on anymore developments." I said evenly into the space. Her eyes flickered to me; a sly smile lit her face as she brushed her bangs away from her face. I immeadtly felt Max tense, she didn't trust that smile. "Well I think that I'll just stick around. And maybe we'll find something, get lucky. Ya know?" her eyes had turned mocking. And for a moment I wondered if she had gone a little _human_ this thought scared me silly. What if I was next?

"Goodnight, Storm Rider, sleep tight." She said, almost crooning. As she rose from her seat and moved toward the door.

When I heard the door click shut I slumped in my seat and began to shake. Max shied from my fear. It only added to her own, she was fearful that the seeker was on to us. And knew that she was still alive. It made her angry and confused. She really hated being trapped and always would. It would never change. She would spend the rest of her life, locked away from the people that she loved.

I idly wondered if she would ever grow to forgive and forget, but then she was human. When had they ever truly forgiven, no humans got even.

That thought alone was enough to make me shudder. But Max only chuckled in my head, as I shuffled to the bed room, and climbed into the warm covers.

_**The house was quiet, probably no one awake yet. I stretched and made my way down the stairs. **_

_**The smell of eggs, bacon, and pancakes wafted to my nose and I quickened my pace. When I rounded the corner to the kitchen I held back laughter at the scene before me. **_

_**Iggy was cooking breakfast, and humming the tune of **_**wild thing**_** under his breath, using the wooden spoon as a guitar. Fang was watching him amusement in his dark eyes. His gaze switched to me as I entered the kitchen. He raised his finger to his lips, **__shh.__** I nodded my head and moved quietly around to sit at the kitchen table, beside Fang. **_

_**We sat there silent watching as Iggy hummed different tunes under his breath. I didn't realize that it was getting so late, until I saw Gazzy standing in the door way watching Iggy with wide eyes. His eyes turned to us, and he raised his eyebrows. I smiled, for the first time in a long time, and waved him over motioning for him to be quite.**_

_**Soon after the girls walked sleepily down the stairs and joined us watching Iggy. The smiles on all of our faces made my heart soar. I loved seeing my flock happy. We had watched Iggy for maybe an hour, when I noticed that me and Fang, had some how ended up holding hands. **_

_**A warm feeling bloomed in my chest, and I smiled even wider. The kids hadn't noticed, and I didn't do anything about it, I didn't want it to end. So I turned my attention back to the happy scene before me, sighing in content.**_

_**This was how it was supposed to be, all of us together happy and watching Iggy make a fool of himself. **_

_**I figured that it had been long enough, so I called out, "Hey, I got a request!" Iggy stopped dead in the middle of the verse, his pale face flushed as he dropped the wooden spoon to the floor.**_

_**There was a moment of dead silence, and then the joyous laughter of the flock echoed through the house and bounced off the walls.**_

_**We all laughed so hard that we fell from our chairs, and hit the ground with a **__thump__**. All the while Iggy stood in the center of the kitchen, glaring in our general direction, his fists curled by his sides and his face blushing hotly.**_

"_**Shut up." He mumbled turning back to serve the food….**_

_**And through it all, Fang still hadn't dropped my hand. Now he gave my fingers a gentle squeeze, and the whole world felt perfect.**_

My eyes snapped open, and sadness echoed in my heart. The flock was not with me, I had never held Fangs hand, or watched Iggy make a fool of himself. That had never been my life that was Max's reality, not mine.

But despite myself, I found my hands running over the crumpled sheets. I closed my eyes and held myself, trying not to love them, Him. But it was all to no avail. I still loved them, wanted them.

The day seemed to drag, and the keys of the keyboard stared back at me. Coldly mocking me, laughing that I couldn't think of anything to write. Max threw ideas at me, and none of them stuck. So she sighed and said, _'human family? The flock?' _I snapped my fingers, it was perfect! I could write her memories. The dreams that haunted me from there perfection, the utter and constant love that flowed through them. It made perfect sense.

So, I began to type as she threw one memory after another at me.

_**The harsh chemical smell burned and festered in my mind, and I could barely stay awake. It had been a long hard day, of the Erasers chasing me. With there wet, gleaming teeth bared and thirsting for my blood. **_

_**But now I sank into an exhausted crouch. I hadn't been this tired since they took me from the Area. As my cage door clanged shut, Jeb walked in with a boy in his arms. The boy didn't look too happy about this arrangement, but he complied. It was obvious how tired he was. I wondered what they had put him through today. **_

"_**Max, this is experiment 000002." Jeb said as he carefully placed the boy in my cage. I just looked at Jeb. I had always wanted to please him, but now I just wanted to beat him for making me share my cage after such a long day. And with a boy that I didn't know. **_

"_**Be nice to him, okay? And don't worry this wont be permant." He smiled kindly and left, his long white coat fluttered in the breeze as he disappeared into the hall.**_

_**The boy didn't say anything, and neither did I. so I sank into a restless sleep as I felt the boy watching me. I felt strangely safe. As though as long as he was here nothing bad could happen.**_

_**My eyes opened, when I heard the door click open, and the man named Rodney came to our cage. The boy glared at him fiercely. But the Rodney paid him no mind. Big mistake. **_

_**The white coat reached in to the cage, reaching for me. All I could do was stare at the hand with all my four old fear and defiance. The boy looked at me saw the fear in my eyes and lunged forward, all I heard was the pained yelp from Rodney as he withdrew his hand, from the cage.**_

_**The boy had bitten him. On his arm were to points of blood, almost like Fangs.**_

_**I looked over at the boy, who was looking at me with a blank face. I tilted my head to the side, and scrutinized him. **_

"_**Fang." I said, he raised his eyebrows. "That's your name, Fang." Fang shrugged his shoulders. "Okay." He said, and I smiled. **_

_**I leaned over and hugged Fang tightly. "Thanks, Fangy." I said. **_

_**He froze up and slowly put his arms around me. I sighed in content this was good, I had a friend.**_

My eyes prickled with tears as I finished typing that one.

'_Next.' _Max said.

_**I squeezed my eyes shut, as the door to the 'cage room' opened. **__Maybe if they think that I'm sleeping than they won't take me.__** I thought. I could feel Fang in the cage next to me, his stance would be tense. I didn't have to open my eyes to know that. I heard the scrape of metal on wood as another cage was placed next to me. Then the soft padding of footsteps across the floor. I breathed a sigh of relief as the door clicked shut again. **_

_**I opened my eyes and looked around the room; next to me was a new boy. With rumpled strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His pale skin was bruised and cut up, my heart squeezed in my chest. **_

_**I looked over at Fang, he simply shrugged his shoulders. So I looked back to the boy who was watching us distrustfully. **_

"_**Do you have a name?" I asked timidly. The boy sat up straighter. "I'm experiment 00003." He said matter of factly. I rolled my eyes. "No, I mean like a name. Not a bunch of numbers." I said, "I'm Maximum, and this is Fang." I motioned to Fang with my hand, and smiled for this boys benefit. **_

_**His brow furrowed, "A name? Like a real name? I've never had one of those." He said, sadness echoed in his voice and made my heart constrict. "Well then, we'll think of one." I said I was determined to find him a name. **_

_**It had been a few hours since we had met the boy. Fang and I sat mulling over possible names for him. But still nothing popped out to me. **_

_**A white coat came through the door and opened the boy's cage; one of the other kids banged on the door and drew the white coats attention away from the boy. **_

_**He smiled and hopped out of his cage. I watched him closely, and saw him reach for a packet of matches next to the computer on the counter. While the white coat was still distracted he pulled one lose, and rubbed the red part against the plastic monitor. I don't know what happened, but suddenly the computer was in flames and the boy sat in front of it grinning like a kook. He was happy watching the flames. And that's when I got his name. "Iggy! Like igneous! For fire!" I said clapping. The boy looked up at me, "Iggy. I like it!" the white coat turned around and saw the flaming computer. "No! The computer!" he sank to his knees still screaming. Still unnoticed Iggy climbed back into his cage. **_

Harsh laughter escaped my throat, I should have known.

'_Next._' Max said again.

_**I watched as Iggy and Fang bickered over who had the worst day so far. It was late at night and I was tired, I just wanted to sleep. **_

_**The days had started to blur together. It had been nearly 1 year since we met Iggy, and now we had been friends for so long. It felt good to have friends. **_

_**The door swung open and dim light shone into the room. The cages suddenly fell silent, from fear. The sudden hush, was suffocating. And a shrill crying came form the figures arms and we all jumped. Tensed in there cages, we all sat still. It was fear that kept us in place. The white coat came and opened Iggy's cage door. **_

_**After the lock clicked back into place, the white coat walked back out of the room. Leaving us in complete darkness. We all waited for a few moments waiting for it to be safe, the watch boy nearest the door gave the signal and we all let out a sigh of collective relief. Iggy inched closer to the bundle of blankets lying in front of his knees.**_

_**He hesitantly pulled back the blankets, and his breath came out in a rush. "Beautiful." He whispered. Wrapped in the blankets was a baby girl. Her brown eyes looked up at him innocently and her mocha face was brightly smiling. Bouncy curls hung around her face giving her the look of an angel**_

_**The days went by, fast since we had gotten the little girl, and since she didn't know how to speak, she would nudge us to get our attention. So one night late, we were all trying to get some sleep when she happened to nudge Iggy. **_

"_**Arg! No nudging!" he yelled. I looked up at the scene before me, and held back a laugh. "I think that you just gave her a name!" I said. "Nudge…" **_

Sadness welled in my heart and I couldn't hold it in.

'_Next._' Max whispered.

_**I don't know how long it's been, but now Nudge can talk. And she does, non- stop. Really, she is so loud and happy. She makes sure that no silence hangs for too long. It makes us all comforted to hear her voice after a long day in the lab. **_

_**But now, I think that we might have a new arrival. I could see Jeb coming back, in his arms is a small boy, wide blue eyes, and blonde hair. He was adorable. **_

_**Oh yes, so adorable. But there was a major flaw with his-digestive system. **_

_**It was late at night, when I was awoken. "Oh god!" I yelled "what is that smell?" The whole room was filled with a horrible scent. I tried not to breathe. Soon, Fang and the others were awake. I looked at them, and tried to convey with my eyes that it was the new boy who had made the awful smell. **_

_**Iggy gagged. "Whoa, Gassy." He said. "No," I said softly, "The Gasman!" Nudge nodded happily, but before she could speak Iggy clapped his hand over her mouth. **_

_**The baby boy laughed happily as Nudge slapped Iggy up side the head. And once again, that feeling that my family… my family was safe and happy. **_

"Oh." I said, tears making there way down my face. It hurt so… much.

'_N-next_' Max's voice hitched, her own sadness leaking out**. **

_**I don't know when it happened, but when I woke up there was a little girl lying by my knees. She was so beautiful. Short blonde curls hung in front of her pale face, and big blue eyes like Gazzy's, open wide and innocently. It was like looking at an angel. **_

_**Angel, yes that was perfect, Angel. "That will be your name. Angel." That's when I drifted back to sleep.**_

_**The next day, I woke up to find Fang looking through the bars of his cage into mine. When he noticed that I was awake he looked at me, "who?" he asked nodding his head toward, the little angel. **_

_**I looked down at her and my eyes softened. Her blue eyes were closed, and her pale pink lips had fallen open in to a tiny O. "That's Angel." I said. Fang looked up at me, his face a tiny bit shocked. And I knew what he was thinking, where had maximum ride gone? And who was this nice loving mother like girl, that's left in her place? "Yeah, she's my little angel." I whispered. "Angel."**_

"Oh god, Max! I can't do this anymore!" I gasped against the tears that flowed down my was just too god damned painful. It was my arms that ached to hold them, and I needed them. I really needed them, so there was only one thing to do.

"I'm going to go to a healer." I said standing abruptly. Panic, that's all just pure plain panic raced through Max's being. But she said nothing. She was as always, tougher than I.


End file.
